Time to make a commitment

摘要

At the Conservative Party Conference last week chancellor George Osborne committed to delivering a national budget surplus by 2020. In June, shadow chancellor Ed Balls said he would keep to the coalition's spending cuts until at least the end of 2015/16. The message to local government is clear: there will be no let-up in cuts to council funding any time soon. The message from local government is equally clear. Something has to change or vital services will be at risk of failing The fact that the statements from the chancellor and his shadow matter so much to council services betrays a fundamentally inequitable relationship between central and local government.